'I wandered lonely as a cloud'. There's nuance to this famous line that we may not always discern. Wordsworth was lucky to be able to wander so freely. The opening line of a poem by John Clare offers a different... [more]

This is one of my favourite trees, here photographed in my car park at Plantsmans Corner and doing fine despite having been blown over by the wind twice, scalped by sheep in the neighboring field, and this last winter almost... [more]

As a small child in Scotland I enjoyed the kudos of having two residences. One on the Isle of Mull the other in Glennifer Braes just outside of Paisley. We were dead poor however, the first was a stone croft... [more]

Letters from Thailand....By Michael Hockham After much consideration and general indecisiveness, it's now official.......I'm a nerd. Not only have I gained this rather insulting tag but I've also offered myself on a plate to those cruel beings who would seek only to... [more]

Let face it, gardens are full of pests, from field voles to rabbits and from squirrels to a visiting tosser who while being the exception is the irritating tit that gnaws away your mind all day long.....traps, rifles, and pretending... [more]